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Create Leaders In Your Procurement Team

Create Leaders In Your Procurement Team

COVID-19 has behaved like a spotlight, exposing faults in our workforce that were disguised by easier times. Now, 88% of respondents to a McKinsey survey report gaps in their procurement capability as a result of the pandemic. Companies are looking to rapidly upskill their employees, which is a shift from…
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Employee benchmarking is the answer to a widespread skills shortage

A magnifying glass on workers; gert employee benchmarking

Globally, procurement departments are suffering from a skills shortage. Employee benchmarking is the only way to know what areas need addressing and where you can gain a competitive advantage. New demands require new skills The perception of procurement has changed. Once considered a back-office function that existed solely to cut…
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What makes a successful cross-functional team?

A rocket achieving success with cross functional teams

They promised much but, too often, delivered little. Cross-functional teams seemed to be the answer to complex projects, cutting through bureaucratic tape, promoting collaboration, and putting an end to separate departments chasing their own goals, often to the detriment of other functions within the same organisation. Unfortunately, they haven’t always…
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What part can procurement play in kick-starting the economy?

Melbourne is in lockdown. Again. Many are asking, ‘How did we get here?’. The answer is multifaceted and, unfortunately, procurement played its part. The Conversation recently published an excellent article on the role procurement had in Melbourne’s clumsy hotel quarantining, including its influence on the troubled private security industry. We…
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The 6 Key Skills You’ll Need to Support Business Recovery Post-Pandemic

Procurement Skills Assessment

Life used to be simple. There were blue collar workers and white collar workers. You either wore denim to the factory or starched and pressed whites to the office. Now, though, the coronavirus lockdown has introduced a “new” collar. The pyjama shirt collar. When we begin to leave lockdown, some…
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In the Post COVID-19 World, Skill Mapping is More Important Than Ever

Skill mapping will show what skills you're missing

Skill mapping is a data-driven strategy that can help you navigate your company to more effective employees and better outcomes. Reflection is a luxury most cannot afford. Routines become ruts, which we follow day after day without deviation, never stopping to think because we simply don’t have the time. However,…
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Business Continuity: How Will Your Business Cope When Disaster Strikes?

Man in trouble because he didn't have a business continuity plan

COVID-19 has led to the cancellation of many festivals and events. In some cases, permanently. Wimbledon, however, will live on, due in no small part to their pandemic insurance. The losses from this year’s cancelled tournament will be covered by a payout of $226 million. That’s some mighty handy risk…
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Sharing Procurement Wisdom Through War Stories

Team helping each other through shared wisdom

COVID-19 has turned many events on their head. Birthdays, anniversaries, even a walk in the park seem strange, discombobulating activities. And ANZAC Day 2020 hasn’t been spared. The moving, sombre atmosphere shared with hundreds of silent, fellow Australians at the Dawn Service isn’t to be, and it feels like the…
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Digital Alignment: The What and the How

Digital Alignment: The What and the How

A lack of communication kills many things. From relationships to profit margins, misinterpretation and silence can lay waste to nearly all aspects of human life. It’s frustrating, because it’s fixable. Failed IT projects account for $14 billion in losses every year for the world’s biggest 500 companies, and it’s all…
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The Peter Principle: Are You Where You Ought To Be?

The Peter Principle claims clueless worker

“You will see that in every hierarchy the cream rises until it sours.” Laurence J Peter A previous article of mine, Procurement in the Roaring ‘20s, drew some interesting comments. Several focused on executive incompetence, with one commenter citing the Peter Principle as an explanation. So, what is the Peter…
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Comprara acknowledges the traditional Aboriginal owners of country, recognises their continuing connection to land, water and community and pays respect to Elders past, present and future.